What is NO-Earth?

Part of the purpose of NO-Earth is to correct or avoid some of the problems that we see with other comic book lines. This article lays some of those out, and our response to them.

Our posting schedule is currently weekly, with a new page going up each Monday for one of our comics. We are an independent publisher and as our comics start hitting print, they will do so in advance of their posting schedule here. So the way to keep up will be to buy the print copy.

NO-Earth is a single universe. There will be no comics set outside of our Time Line. We believe in crossovers and cameos. However, we will not put you in a position where you have to read an issue of a different title to continue a story line. We will tell the same story in both titles, and you will be able to read it with differing viewpoints depending on which title you’re reading. We call this Linear Continuity, and we will make sure that a title we publish tells a linear story from issue #1 on, with no reboots, no need to read a different comic, and nothing missing for the characters. We want you to read all of the titles, so there are easter eggs to encourage this, but we will never sacrifice story for sales. If there’s only a single title you want to read, you will never be punished for not reading something else.

Time passes on NO-Earth. Characters age, they get hurt, they die. Legacies are passed on, new characters inhabit old names and costumes. The timeline does not slide like Marvel, and there will be no re-boots as at DC. Our characters are not static. They will change, and the changes will not be retconned out when a new creative team takes over the book.

Retcons are a fix no one wants. The last thing that we will do within the NO-Earth world is retcon a problem. It will be done only if there is no other way to fix the problem, and then done with surgical precision. Since our entire universe is on-line, along with a time line, we will keep all of the factoids possible on the site, so that both you and our creative team can see how things fit together.

Since NO-Earth is a relatively recent creation (we date from 1985), and has had diverse input since its creation, ‘diversity’ is not an issue. No character in NO-Earth will ever be re-written in order to meet an artificial ‘diversity’ requirement. This is not a ‘politically correct’ refuge. Any changes to characters will be organic and part of a story, not something ret-conned in to try to appease a vocal minority that can never be pleased. On the other hand, If you are not happy with diversity within your comic world, this is not the place for you. Our characters include male, female, people of all colours, ages, religions, political beliefs, sexual orientations, and even non-human intelligent species. Since character and story are our goals, stereotypes, caricatures and biased cliches are not going to be found here.

We are here to tell stories, hopefully, ones that you come to know and love, and that means that everything else takes a back seat to the unique and lovingly crafted story.

There are some places within the NO-Earth world that are not nice. The Confederate States of America has institutionalised racism, sexism, and species-ism. There are some rather violent places. Parts of the world are very ugly with horror, crime, and suspense being some of the styles of stories we serve up. None of these are put into the NO-Earth world to glorify or praise these things, but to provide the conflict that good storytelling requires. While we will attempt to provide you with warning labels, in the end, this site is for mature readers, and occasionally things that are a touch ugly will slip by.

Just so you know, mortality is real. Characters are mortal, even the immortal ones. Anyone can die, anyone can fall. Our plots are laid out issues in advance, and some of the titles currently on the planning board are designed to be limited series with drastic changes to the characters within those arcs. And when we kill them, they will stay dead. Doing anything else destroys the very emotional core of the story in which they died. If anything else is intended, then the clues will be in the story that there is something funny about the death.

Twists and plot turns are part of good writing. They are also things that have been abused within comics for ages, and we will attempt to overcome that. A good involved plot is going to do more for you, the reader, than the trickery some companies try to pass off as plot. Expect twists and turns, but also have the reasonable expectation that none of them are being done for shock value, but to further legitimate story needs.

While we have characters and creators of every political and social bent, any stories done will present multiple viewpoints. We will never preach at you, or try to convert you to a particular point of view. Good stories should cause you to think, not stop thinking. They should cause you to examine beliefs, not simply reinforce them.

NO SPANDEX! Seriously, even though a slang term for Supers on NO-Earth is ‘Tights”, you will rarely see that as part of the world here. Clothing is supposed to be functional, it protects, carries things, and conceals things. It can even make a fashion statement, but spandex is a rather rare way of doing it. Armour, sure. Leather, yeah. Cloaks and capes, occasionally. But spandex? Heroes are likely to want something that is more rugged.

Motivations. Frankly, the whole idea that someone acquires powers of any sort, and suddenly has a desire to put on a costume and go either fight, or commit crime is not something you are likely to run across a lot in NO-Earth. People are more likely to put the powers to other uses, such as what Mockingbird does in The Shadow War.